by Banded Tree™

As well as cooking and food, of which I cannot seem to do without, I also like to work with wood. I am learning to make furniture pieces in the medieval style, using both modern and period methods.

The biggest challenge is to make a piece of furniture that both looks "period" as well as breaks down for transport to events. Events are either day events held at a school, church or a park, or multi day events held at a camping area. (click here for our canton calendar of events). The "RV" of the period was the wagon carrying your tent, furniture, supplies and yourself. What you brought depended on the distance you needed to travel, length of the stay once you arrived, and the space in the wagon or wagons. Additional "vehicles" (wagons, carriages, horses, mules, ponies, etc.) for people transport was helpful and appreciated, but there was always your two feet - even for long trips.

This is not so different from today and what we can fit in the car, van, truck, SUV or attached trailer. This is where the breaking down part comes in handy. The larger pieces I have made are pegged together. However, not everything should break down to pack. The supply boxes must be sturdy and not come apart or the stuff inside will be destroyed. The furniture must be able to handle the extremes of weather one encounters camping.  Here are some links to wood working sites as well as pictures of pieces made by myself - Banded Tree™  

I am indebted to my family for putting up with the mess outside as I work on these projects, and for their assistance in producing the artwork on the pieces.  I craft a piece and sand it ready for decorating.  My wife or daughter then decorates it with wood burning or ink art to add the finishing touches (see the wolves burned into the Ironwolf table, chair arms and backs, the boxes, etc.)  The piece is then stained and protected with a "poly" finish.  The Banded Tree™ logo, designed by my wife and daughters and made into a brand for me , gets put on each piece that has passed their rigorous quality standards.  It is not Banded Tree™ until they give the okay.

An X-chair takes 32 hours, not counting drying time for poly, to make by hand. The benches of walnut and oak, 8 hours each, the cottage table, 12 hours, the castle table, 12 hours - all not including drying times for stain and poly, or about a week per piece with drying overnight between coats. The small boxes take an hour to cut and assemble, the designs can take over an hour to put on. These are not quick projects when using medieval methods, so all Banded Tree™ items are 'gifted' (although some are commissioned for 'gifting' to the person commissioning the project.) However, a project may be commissioned only if the artisans of Banded Tree™ are willing to take on the project. There have been a few items made for sale at the Medieval Village, per request of the guests of the village. These vary in kind and are limited in production. The latest were the gaming tables shown below. For those willing to take on the challenge, the links and books are included below so you too can build your own "medieval" furniture.

Note: Polyurethane is not a period finish. However, I use outdoor marine grade polyurethane as it keeps the pieces looking good with a minimum of upkeep over years of use. These pieces are expected to handle extremes of temperature as experienced in the hills of Pennsylvania or the summers of Michigan, as well as the abuse of travel, while being expected to look their best when set up at the final destination. Durability is a requirement today, just as it was in the Middle Ages.

Here are examples of my work to date:

WARNING: To the best of my knowledge, this is not a period design. This design is for groups or individuals to use to make a portable, easy to store, easy to make, easy to modify, inexpensive set of tables or benches. 

I have been asked to make a storable, portable, durable table for different groups. As you can see by the animated picture, this table can be made very quickly - in 47 seconds with camera magic! It really takes about 90 minutes to make 4 - 2"W by 4"L tables. This is a quick and dirty design using power tools, a sheet of plywood, nuts and bolts and some 2"x4"s. Click here for the picture by picture instructions. 

Period work follows:

A couple of my walnut and oak benches. These are from "rough cut" walnut with "rough cut" oak crossbeams. The holes for the mortise and tendon joints were cut out by hand with chisels. The cuts were with hand saws. The tops were hand planed.

The attempt was to make furniture of a type made by the local woodworkers for the daily use by the villagers/peasants, using medieval methods, with tools that although of modern manufacture, are the same designs traced back to biblical times. This furniture would not necessarily be of the nobles personal furnishings, but might well be used by the servants in their areas, the villains in their cottages, etc. In other words, these are the daily use, practical pieces, not the showcase masterworks you would see in the museums. These are all of break apart designs so they will travel for camping, as well as from house to house. A noble might have several estates, but as you see by the time it takes to make these "simple" furniture pieces, they often had only one set of household furnishings due to the expense.

For those familiar with the story of Aliyah and Áindle, this is the bed I made as a result of our marriage (see pictures in our album.) The rope is not medieval, but a cotton poly rope that will not rot or mildew as this is used for camping. A few interesting parts of this bed are from discussion I had at a Balloonfest demo. There was a man making Viking rope beds opposite me. So, the small legs are notched and between the rope boards. The tall legs are also between the rope boards. This is because the tension of the rope will hold the bed together, so there is no need to peg the legs. The ropes are held tight by small pieces of wood with three holes. Aliyah made sure she put her rose on the headboard to show it was her bed. She did concede and put a banded tree for me on the footboard. Yes, the artwork is by Aliyah.

Where do I do the work? I work outside when it is warm. Here is the work table I made for myself and some of the tools I used to make many of the items you see above:

Lady Alianor bat Asriel (aka Aliyah) - Quality Control, Project Designer, Embellishment Designer, Woodburning, Ink and Paint Embellishment

lady Rachel of Weldlake - Embellishment Designer. Woodburning, Ink Embellishment

lord Steven of Weldlake - Apprentice

Lady Seadhli ingean Áindle - Embellishment Designer, Apprentice

Lady Bryn Archer - Embellishment Designer, Apprentice

lady Sarah of Weldlake (wife of Jonathan) - Embellishment designer

lord Jonathan of Weldlake (son-in-law) - Apprentice

Áindle ÓDiarmada - carpenter, project designer

(Yes, it is a family enterprise.)

The Woodwrights Apprentice, Roy Underhill, The University of North Carolina Press, ©1996.

Constructing Medieval Furniture, Daniel Diehl, Stackpole Books, ©1997.

Medieval Furniture, Daniel Diehl and Mark Donnelly, Stackpole Books, ©1999.